Porsche prepares to appeal to investors as a stand-alone entity

As the merger with Volkswagen now seems unlikely, Porsche Automobil Holding SE is getting ready to draw up a strategy to attract investors as a stand-alone entity.

Finance chief Hans Dieter Poetsch said on Thursday that he can’t say with certainty what type of approach Porsche SE will take but he believes that it’s more likely that Volkswagen will simply exercise an option to take control of the shares in Porsche AG it does not already own without combining with Porsche SE first.

Notably, VW Group has a 49.9% stake in Porsche AG. According to Poetsche, Porsche SE wants to entice shareholders subscribing to its 5 billion euro ($6.97 billion) capital increase with a payout in June, since the new shares will have full dividend rights to its shortened fiscal year that ended in December.

A Porsche spokesman said that the shareholders will be shown the proposal together with the invitation to the June 1

7 shareholders meeting at the latest. Poetsch also predicted a profitable year, excluding any one-off effects including possible writedowns on its put and call options connected to its 50.1% stake in Porsche AG.

Porsche SE said last month that legal and tax uncertainties have lessened the probability of the merger with Volkswagen this year to about 50%.

But even with this scenario, Poetsch said it can emphasize that Porsche SE's executive board believes that it can be successful at clarifying the current uncertainties and that the merger can proceed even if it takes place after 2011.